Endless Rage
by Kyubi88
Summary: PG-13 due to minor swearing... Naruto has been supressed, ignored, and hated by everyone... There is only one thing thats holding him back from annihalating everyone who has neglected him... That is... (naruhina, shikaino, sasusaku)
1. Self Control

(Author's rant) Hi hi everyone! This is my first fan fic! It takes place during Chuunin Exam, and fight with Kiba and Naruto. This is going to be NaruHina, ShikaIno, and I dunno about everyone else… Maybe sasusaku… (Sry yaoi and yuri fans… their all going STRAIGHT! Muhahaha- I just think its not right… its just gonna be friendship…) Though I'm trying to keep their personalities together, there might be some OOC ness… Please read and give comments or review! Mild flames accepted…

**Update: Plot changed, each chapters revised.**

Endless Rage: Chapter 1 – Self Control

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Naruto spat out blood as Kiba and Akamaru smashed his back from above with their devastating Gatsuuga. Naruto winced in pain, and then slumped on the floor.

"Hahah! Once a loser, always a loser! Why don't you stay down for your own good?" Kiba stepped on Naruto's head, then laughed tauntingly, then moved on to ranting about how Naruto was always a failure, and would never become a Hokage.

"You know you're just bluffing! You CANNOT win against me and Akamaru. You're just a failure who's fooling himself. Give it up."

"Naruto! You can do it!" Inner Sakura was infuriated. Even though Naruto was usually hyper, stupid, and annoying, he really was very endearing. It was wrong to put somebody down like that... (Though Sakura conveniently ignored the fact that she did that almost everyday to him…)

"Sakura – Chan…" Naruto regained his boiling pride as he heard her cheering him on. '_She's cheering for me! I must be strong! Think Naruto… Think! Think!' _Naruto tried to get up, and managed to stand up on 2 feet.

"Still want some more? How many times do I have to tell you? Just give up! You won't win, loser." Kiba and Akamaru laughed at Naruto simultaneously (A/N: I don't know if Akamaru could laugh, but I'm going to say he can…), and insulted him.

"Shut up! I am Uzumaki Naruto who will surpass the great Hokage himself! Remember it! I will not lose to some smelly dog like you!" Kiba's eyebrows twitched madly at the line _smelly dog_.

"Is that all you ever say you ramen freak? Do I have to remind you what a failure you were back at academy? You were always doing pranks, messing things up, and being a jackass. It's a miracle that you even made it up to this point. It was most likely just a fluke. This is my last warning. GIVE UP." Kiba smirked at Naruto's fuming head.

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"Kakashi sensei? Don't you think Kiba is being a little too harsh?" Sakura asked Kakashi with fear.

Kakashi, who was reading his treasured Icha Icha Paradise turned his attention to Sakura.

"Sakura, Naruto is stronger than he looks. He will be able to overcome this." Kakashi told Sakura, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. Sakura became more worried as she assumed this the wrong way.

Kakashi was deep in his thoughts, and for once, not reading Icha Icha Paradise out of his own accord. _'I hope, anyway… Kyuubi's powers are awaken by strong surge of emotions… If Naruto snaps…'_

It still gave Kakashi the chills the last time Naruto was angered to a point of absolute darkness. He could never really forget the chills the Kyuubi's chakra gave off…

_Sasuke jumped forward, just in time to be pierced by Haku's needles, that were being aimed at unconscious Naruto. Sasuke grabbed Haku by wrist and threw him against Haku's _Makyou HyouShou _that was trapping Naruto and Sasuke._

_"Sasuke!__ Why?" Naruto caught Sasuke's falling body, then gently laid his head on his lap. Naruto had thousands of thoughts and questions for the boy who lay lifelessly on his lap. _

_"Don't ask me why you dobe… I don't even know why I did that myself… Is this the end?" Sasuke said through clenched teeth to hold back the grunt of pain that shot through his entire body._

_"Don't say something stupid like that… your gonna be ok… right? Right? RIGHT!?"_

_Naruto desperately held on to Sasuke's hand, whom he thought he hated, who was arrogant, who had everything he didn't have, who just… gave his life to save Naruto's. He didn't know what to think anymore._

_He could only ask the now limp body of Sasuke, "Why? Why? **Whywhywhy****-**"_

****

_Haku answered, "Because this is the way of the shinobi. He was a shinobi to be respected. He died to protect someone precious to him. He—"_

**SHUT UP**._" Naruto was standing over Sasuke's body, trembling from unsuppressed anger. His anger has awoken the dormant power of Kyuubi no Youkai, and was seeping out of his chakra holes, giving an aura of menace to the entire bridge. Chakra of absolute power cracked the very ground they stood; then spiraled over the blonde genin._

_Haku was puzzled. 'He's behavior is completely different from moment ago… What's this?! Different chakra? Chakra just can't change like this… And this horrifying dread… Who is this kid? Will I even stand a chance against power like this?"_

_Unfortunately for Haku, Naruto had no patience._

**I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!**_ With newly gained incredible power, Naruto roared with anger and sorrow of his loss._

_Haku felt pure fear when he felt Naruto's glare, which was filled with incredible amount of killing intent. The killing intent that could completely freeze anyone out of pure fear, with a mere glance. It was an all out killing intent, promising eternity of devastating pain in the endless abyss. All focused on him, and him alone. Haku felt his right hand which held the needle tremble. He noted unconsciously how he's eyes have changed to blood red and that his body resembled more of a feral impression._

_'I must live… Zabuza-sama still may need me…' Haku firmly resolved himself to face the enraged madness, with pure will._

_"Hyaa!"__ Haku threw multiple needles at same time, at different places, and covering Naruto like a dead hedgehog, which Naruto didn't even seemed to be fazed with._

_'What am I dealing with…? He doesn't seem to be even slightly pained… They've all hit the vital organs… So how is he still standing!?' Haku decided to return to the safety of the_Makyou HyouShou_, and then watched Naruto with caution._

_Mean while, Naruto's rage was mixed with Kyuubi's aching bloodlust, and Naruto's desire to avenge his fallen comrade…_

_His 'friend'…_

_His 'precious person'…_

_The very thought of Sasuke angered him to no end – creating his own little mantra which angered him further - repeating and repeating, within the hazy mind due to Kyuubi's influence.****_

_Naruto, powered infinitely by the mighty chakra of Kyuubi no Youkai, was done with waiting and lunged forward with devastating speed, towards the mirror that contained Haku's real body._

_Milliseconds after Naruto charged at him, Haku already knew that he was going to die._

Kakashi closed his visible eye in a contemplative manner. '_We must not let a repeat of that happen again…'_

"Sakura… Tell other jounins to be 'ready'. Don't ask whys." Sakura was about to ask a 'why' against Kakashi's command, but after seeing that mirth has left his visible right eye, which meant that he was serious. She pouted and left.

Turning his gaze back to his beloved book, he thought '_…There is no telling what'll happen to Kiba. Better get ready for anything.'_

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On the opposite side of the battle field, Hyuga Hinata was caught in a dilemma.

_'What should I do…? I should be cheering for Kiba-kun… but I want to cheer for Naruto-kun…'_

Currently, Hinata was quite angry at her feral teammate and for a good reason too. '_How dare Kiba-kun mock Naruto-kun's efforts!' _She mentally noted to herself to give Kiba-kun a scolding later. Of course, she was painfully oblivious to the fact that only reason the Inuzuka was cruel with her desired person was the fact the Hinata herself desired Naruto over Kiba. Kiba had developed a crush on his teammate, though no one but Shino knew.

She was snapped out of her angry thoughts when a pink haired girl came to talk with her sensei. She wondered if this was about Naruto-kun.

"Kurenai sensei, Kakashi sensei sent me to give you the message to be 'ready'…"Polite as ever, Sakura told Kurenai. She smirked back as a reply.

"I see. Just tell Kakashi that he should stop reading that damn perverted book and get ready himself." '_I despise that book! It's an insult to all women!'_ Kurenai thought angrily.

Sakura sweatdropped, and gave a small nod then left to tell Asuma the message. After she left, Hinata heard her sensei briefly whispering something to herself.

"I wonder if all of us are enough for _him_…"

Hinata could not suppress a sudden chill that ran down her spine. She tried to forced herself to believe that this had nothing to do with he beloved Naruto-kun, and that everything was going to be ok.

How typical that she could not believe her own words…

_----------------_

Mean while down in the Chunnin exam arena, Kiba was still taunting the barely standing Naruto.

"You loser, don't you remember how you were?"

_"Hahahahahahahahah" The whole class laughing._

_"Stop it."_

_"Hahahahahahah – what an idiot – hahahaha – you'll always be the loser – hahahah" Everyone in the class laughing, taunting at his failure._

_"Shut up"_

_"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA – YOU FAILURE!"___

Kiba had an arrogant smirk plastered all over his face. A smirk that clearly said 'I'm superior, I'm stronger, and you are the inferior, and you're a loser'.

"Hahahaha! Its over! Let's finish this Akamaru –** Gatsuuga**!"

With a sharp bark, Kiba and Akamaru spun, and then charged at Naruto with incredible speed. Akamaru came down from above while Kiba struck from below.

Naruto just stood there. Trembling. Shaking. Doing nothing to protect him self from Kiba and Akamaru's deadly combo. He was angry. Enraged. His pure hatred aimed towards everyone who had taunted him and laughed at his failure. Then, there was that little tempting voice that was always whispering words of surrender to him… telling him to surrender to the power of the Youkai. If only he would give up-

_'No… NO! If I let the fox's chakra affect him now, then everyone will surely know the truth and be afraid of me… I cannot let that happen…'_

Naruto snapped out of his musings as Kiba's gatsuura approached him at high speed; in the meantime, Naruto performed his favorite jutsu, even though he had no idea how much chakra he had left. Fortunately, 19 Kage Bunshins phased into existence, all ready to pound the hell out of their opponent.

Up in the stands, Kakashi has pulled out his sharingan to check if Naruto had used Kyuubi's chakra, but surprisingly found none.

_'… He's not going to use it? Interesting…'_

Back down on the arena, Naruto has made a new oath to himself.

'I can't let that dog boy beat me… This is MY FIGHT! I will win this without the damned fox… I will show them all… I will show EVERYONE that I am strong…'

Within the little spinning tornado, Kiba thought that Naruto was braver than he thought. 'So he's not gonna run away is he… I'll give him credit for his guts… but it will take more than that!'

"Akamaru!" Kiba called as gatsuuras readied themselves for a final blow.

With a new promise, courage, and power he did not know he possessed, all 20 Narutos charged toward the gatsuura to perform their super secret technique. (A/N: take a wild guess…)

"This time, YOUR GOING TO BE THE UNDERDOG KIBA!"

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End Chapter 1

A/R: So how was it? Review!


	2. Satisfaction

Thank you for all the reviews!

Disclaimer: Forgot it on first chappy…. I do NOT own NARUTO!! I can only wish…

Keys: "Someone talking"

'_Thinking'_

_ Flashbacks… yelling, special effects… depend on the situation…_

**Also yelling, and making a point**

And… I think that's it…

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Endless Rage Chapter 2- Satisfaction

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'_I_ _wonder… Naruto was the dead last in the academy and Kiba… was a dog… I wonder who will win…_' Ino mused as Naruto's battle commenced.

"Hey Shikamaru, who do you think will win this one?" Ino asked curiously towards a half-a-sleep pretending Shikamaru. He pretended to be sleeping some more and ignored Ino until she was angry as an earthquake for being ignored, and an ignored Ino is a dangerous Ino.

"HEY **SHIKAMARU!**** Can't you HEAR ME!?" **Ino's ultimate technique, 'shake n' yell' until Shikamaru turns blue was put into action, almost nearly killing the poor shadow user.

"… Coughcough… Exhalephew…Inhale…HUFF…Alright, alright already… man, girls are annoying… wham! …itai…" Obviously Ino wasn't happy with Shikamaru's little sexist comment about her kind.

"Anyways, what do you think Shika?" Ino asked as she resumed her pursuit of her curiosity.

"… I'm not too sure… based on academy scores, and previous performances, I would say Kiba should win this one easy… but something's telling me Kiba won't win easily…" Shikamaru said while in his 'too-much-hassle-and-a-great-need-to-watch-clouds' attitude while leaning on the railing.

"Well, duh Shika, Kiba's definitely better! He's supposed to be WAY better than that dead-last. What makes you say the ramen freak won't lose so easily?" Shikamaru felt a pang of jealousy for Ino's praise (or insult?) of Kiba's capabilities.

"I'm not gonna bother explaining… It's so troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed as Ino's face tone looked just about an explosive tag millisecond before explosion.

"Why you SHIKA-" "Ino, whatever Shika says should be pretty accurate… trust me." Choji said for the first time while cutting Ino off, still stuffing chips, AND holding back an explosive Ino from using her fearsome ultimate attack on poor unsuspecting Shikamaru all at the same time.

"Hah, I can't trust either of you lazy bums if it's the last thing left in the world!" Of course, Ino did not mean this, and two boys knew this was just to blow off her steam in much less painful way than choking the life out of Shikamaru, and he said he preferred it this way than the other way for seemingly obvious reasons of avoiding immense pain.

But deep down the ingenious mind of Shikamaru, a small part of him, said in a whispering voice that cut clear of any other thoughts that currently occupied the pony tailed genin, told him that the immense pain was nothing compared to the wonders of Ino's close proximity during performance of her attack.

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Down in the arena…

20 Narutos charged at 2 approaching gatsuuras. As both attacks spun towards a large group of Narutos charging at him, 5 of them snuck behind the incoming attacks, and readied. As 2 devastating attacks ran in circles, attacking the 15 trapped Narutos occasionally, 5 Narutos started to get in position, while managing to conceal themselves.

"Hahaha! One of you must be real! Akamaru, formation No.2!" "Arf!" As Akamaru sent its affirmative, both ran across the group of Narutos in zigzag manner, destroying 4 of the dodging kage Narutos, while the remaining ones tried to attack the spinning frenzies from the side.

"Hayahhhh!" Narutos yelled as 3 kage Narutos threw shurikens at the spinning gatsuuras, which proved pointless as the spinning nails of the Akamaru/Kiba's nails deflected them easily while still spinning.

"Hahahaha… It wont work… We are nearly invincible in this state! Our eyes are so keen that we can see our surroundings while we are spinning! Akamaru, lets show these dead-lasts what real pain is… Huh…? Akamaru?" No reply. "Akamaru!" Still no reply. "Aka-" " Baka Inu! Pay attention!" Yelled a Naruto who kicked Kiba on the chin, who let his guard drop while he was concerned for his partner's safety.

'_Ugh… What the hell just happened…?_' Kiba wondered as he groaned and struggled to recover from his almost-fatal blow to his chin. Due to his Juujin state, He's lower jaw has been weakened, and a direct blow would have been almost fatal, most likely remodeling the entire position of his jaw.

'_Good thing I moved to my right with reflexes… Or else I probably would have been a gonner… I should watch out… Seems this dead-last could provide me more trouble than I originally thought…Nani!?_' Now fully standing, Kiba could not hide his amazement and horror as his jaw dropped and hit the floor.

"Heh heh heh…" Naruto's soft chuckle spread throughout the arena giving Kiba's keen sense of hearing a good dose of feeling of hopelessness…

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crunchmunchcrunch…. Choji's ferocious bites on his chips became more and more louder as battle went on, which infuriated Ino 10 folds as it became louder.

"Choji! Can't you stop eating for once!? STOP EATING! **DO YOU KNOW HOW ANNOYING THAT IS YOU** **FA-" "**Ino…" Shikamaru clamped his hands on her lips as he stopped Ino from saying the forbidden taboo word to Choji with stern voice and a hint of exhaustion. "… You know its taboo to say it in front of Choji… How many times do I have to save you?" Ino stared at Shikamaru as if it was the most absurd thing she'd ever heard.

"Save me? From what!?" Ino's voice contained mostly anger, which Shikamaru figured as from feeling insulted and minor mix of amazement, and surprise. Shikamaru sighed.

"You know, Choji is stronger than he looks… He's probably maybe one of the strongest taijutsu users in the exam… Besides… You shouldn't insult him…" '_It bothers me…' _Shikamaru mentally added. Ino, once again, reaching the peak of her frustration, was about to yell her heads off until the (blissfully unaware) munching Choji pointed at the arena and exclaimed, "Look at Akamaru!"

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"I…I don't believe this! How did he do that Kakashi sensei?! He has never done that before!" Sakura, who was watching the showdown quietly until now, exclaimed at Kakashi, as he was still reading the Icha Icha Paradise.

"Hm… I believe Naruto will explain it to us after this match…" Kakashi said as his gaze still on the beloved book, while observing the battle at same time. '_I'm also curious about this… How did he manage this?'_

_'How the hell does he know what's going on with his NOSE STUCK IN THAT LITTLE PIECE OF CRAP THAT CALLS IT SELF A BOOK?!'_ Inner Sakura yelled as she ripped her hairs off with frustration of her sensei's seemingly careless answer.

"Hmp, I thought you knew everything Kakashi _sensei_…" Sakura said disappointedly at her pervert sensei, who shrugged in return.

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To say that the taijutsu specialist Rock Lee was shocked would be an understatement beyond comparison. He just witnessed something he would probably remember for rest of his life. Well, may be not, but it was incredible, to say the least. He did not know how Naruto-kun was capable of this kind of thing. Unfortunately, his sensei wasn't here, so he would have to wait and ask his sensei how is such thing possible without a good pair of sharingan. He briefly wondered if he got a sharingan eye transferred just like Kakashi sensei. He started thinking of bribing Kakashi sensei to get him a sharingan eyes transferred, but decided against it, considering that the body has to be suitable for such an eye.

"_Sharingan… I want one…"_

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Garra of the Desert was amused. The blond genin showed improvements, as he have just proved. Garra still didn't see him as a threat, but couldn't help but to think it would be an amusing battle if the blond were to go up against himself; Garra promised painful and enjoyable (at least to himself…) death… He thought he thought he felt something inhuman stir about inside his chakra earlier, though it was only a glimmer. Gaara quickly dismissed the thought as he said to himself no one except himself carries a monster, that all else lives for him to kill, and all for him to kill alone. That thought alone made Gaara itch with anxiousness.

'_I want to kill… To feel once again…'_

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Back in the arena…

"You didn't expect this now, did you… Kiba-_kun_…" A Naruto (which seemed to be the real one out of 7 leftover kage bunshins) spoke, as he was holding a limp and beat up Akamaru by his neck.

"Y…You… How dare you… Naruto!" Kiba yelled as he saw with horror that his prized friend/possession was bruised, and seemed to be whimpering. Akamaru's legs were bent in a sickening way, and some tears and sweats were visible all around his body.

_"What the… How is it that all 5 Narutos seem fine? Akamaru didn't get rid of ANY kage bunshins?"_ Then a thought suddenly hit him as he realized that it took way too long for him to destroy 13 kage bunshins, and there were still 7 of the kage bunshins standing, undamaged. _"Could it be? The kage bunshins didn't disappear after a direct hit?"_

"You're wrong Kiba…" A Naruto spoke up, as he seemed to read Kiba's facial expression. Naruto's grin spread across his face, not in a usual manner, but in an indescribably sadistic way… Kiba shuddered, hard.

"Let me show you something I picked up before this exam…"

(If I ended it here, would you call me evil? Naw, I'm evil, but not THAT evil…)

In a flash, 2 Narutos who Kiba was fighting before, lunged at him at an immense speed, and passed him before he could even blink. Kiba was dumbstruck and could not even utter a sound.

"This is how I defeated your so called Akamaru without even getting a scratch, and 2 out of 15 clones survived your gatsuuras for a prolong period of time…" All 7 Narutos started speaking, and Kiba was frustrated. He felt as if he was being outmatched by this dead-last, and it was a big blow to his pride indeed. He bit his hand in concentration, and asked Naruto in a relatively calm manner, betraying his inner turmoil.

"How did you… gain this speed…? I don't understand…"

"Of course you don't. You've never seen me like this have you? Let's just say I witnessed a certain thick eyebrows kick the pretty boy's ass… And well… even I can't explain it. It just came to me, when I needed it." Kiba was shaking now.

"Well, thick eyebrows did that weird thing with his legs, then Sasuke went flying up in the air. It was just a glimmer, but I managed to somehow catch how he moved… I admit, it was quite difficult to knock Akamaru out… but I succeeded anyway." Naruto's grin widened in what seemed like satisfaction.

Kiba shook with understanding. He had witnessed it once when he was on a mission. Gai's team and Kurenai's was in a joint mission and was with them. There, Kiba witnessed first hand how fast and dangerous Lee could be. Kiba understood what Naruto was talking about, and it frightened him. His taijutsu style and speed… rivaled Rock Lee's evenly.

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End of Chappy 2

Now now, I know your all thinking, 'Wait a min… Wasn't he supposed to be knocked out?'… Well, I put a slight twist… and as this is my fiction… I wield the POWER! (j/k)…

Anyways, all will be explained next chappy which is being worked on my spare time… 14 year old these days are busy too u know!

By the way, THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED AND WILL REVIEW!!

HUUUG!


	3. Victory

(A.R.) I'm sorry everyone! I was very busy this week… Tests, tests, and more tests… Newayz, time for explanations! (dun kill moi plz… T . T)

First, Naruto did NOT copy Lee's taijutsu completely. He saw the move being executed twice by Lee and Sasuke… I already said he was awake, watching the fight with Sasuke and Lee… He was also present during the fight with Yoroi (is that right? The chakra sucking dude…) and Sasuke, and he saw the ShiShi rendan also. His talents of copying are not far from Sasuke… (Naruto DOES NOT have sharingan.) He will also not be able to copy something like Hyuga techniques, maybe except Kaiten (From what I've seen, its releasing chakra from all spores of your body, and rotating your body… This does not take Byakugan to execute except for getting very dizzy afterwards I believe…).

Also, Naruto does not know what 5 part seal does… since he is a mere GENIN. Not a SENIN. He is bit lacking in the intelligence department also. The hidden chakra he used to summon up Kage Bunshins was his OWN chakra. When cut short of Kyuubi's chakra, he forced his limits, and his anger was a pathway for his chakra to be found. He has potentials, without Kyuubi, since he is the son of Yondaime (at least in this story…).

Kakashi's flashback… Honestly, I just wanted to add the scene of Sasuke's momentary death and Naruto going berserk… Note that Kakashi only mentioned the chills that he felt… Not the whole battle sequence… If he did remember, he would probably be thinking that he was glad that Sasuke did not die or fell victim to Naruto something…

Oh, and I discovered something from anime… It seemed he still had Kyuubi's unnatural healing power after he got the five part seal… Also, I believe that the incredible healing was possible because of Kyuubi's chakra… Which means it hasn't been COMPLETELY eradicated from Naruto.

Thank you for all the reviews and comments/criticisms!

On to the story!

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Endless Rage – Victory

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All 7 remaining Narutos smirked at one intimidated Kiba, and threw the limp Akamaru at the walls. As Akamaru's body slammed the grey walls of the arena, a sickening crack was heard throughout the arena, making the spectators wince.

"Akamaru!" Kiba's voice held much fear and anger as his red faithful companion slid down the wall. "That was unnecessary! Why did you throw Akamaru! I'll make you pay!" Kiba's better judgment would have made some sensible decision in this situation, but anger has gotten the better of him. Charging in blind anger, Kiba forgot about the consequences of such action at the current situation.

"I pity Akamaru for having such an insensible tamer…" As the real Naruto shook his head at Kiba's idiotic action, 6 Narutos immediately got in action, clearly intending to finish this match off. Kiba now realized how bad the situation has gotten by his blind charge at the incoming Narutos, tried to change the inevitable fate by performing his Gatsuura.

'_Six Narutos… The remaining one is probably the real one! If I take him out, then the clones will disappear!"_ Now regaining some of his tactical sense, Kiba dodged as best he can while maintaining a straight line at the 7th Naruto.

'_Almost there… What!?' _The 7th Naruto charged at his face with blinding speed, and then punched the center of the rapid Gatsuura while yelling "U!", effectively hitting Kiba square on the face. Kiba was sent flying backwards, with all the momentum of Gatsuura working against him. 2 Narutos jumped high as the 4 Narutos executed the first movements of the Lotus on incoming Kiba yelling "Zu! Ma! Ki!" Each kick made a painful thud as made impact on Kiba. While Kiba flew to the 2 Narutos in mid air, they performed double axe kick to Kiba's head and stomach, and then yelled in unison "Naruto Rendan!" Kiba headed straight toward the ground head first. He hit the ground with gruesome thud, and then laid still.

Everyone in the arena was silent. Narutos' heavy breathing was the only noticeable sound. He said with dignity, "Don't underestimate me."

"Winner: Naruto!"

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"Yosh!! Go Naruto!!!" For once, Sakura and her inner self yelled together, but she was the only one. Everyone else were murmuring or in their own thoughts.

'_Hm__… So he WAS watching Sasuke…The name is a copy too…Although his sudden change in behavior bothers me... This is worth being reported…' _Kakashi thought as he remembered Sasuke's ShiShi Rendan.

'_That idiot really won… Though something seemed odd…'_ Shikamaru shuddered involuntarily as he recalled Naruto's sudden change in attitude and strength.

_'Kiba, you've fought a good fight… He was a worthy opponent of your caliber. What surprises me is that he seemed to have beaten you on his own…' _Kurenai thought as she gazed at one of her student was being carried out the door. Kiba was always brash… Maybe just below Naruto. She did not expect her student to win because of his playfulness and somewhat-of-stupidity, but she had not expected him to be pummeled like this. '_He really has grown hasn't he…? Hinata chose well…'_

_'Wow… Is this the dead last loser? What did Kakashi do to him?' _Incredulous, Asuma was amazed at the Naruto's victory. '_Did he use Kyuubi? Is that how he defeated him? I did not sense it… '_

_'Is this the dead-last loser I keep hearing about? He wasn't that bad… If he's dead last, then I wonder how strong everyone else is…'_ Kankuro thought as he recalled the Uchiha's match, then compared to Naruto's. '_Naw__… They're all weaklings… At least the girls… My sister should be a roll model for all of them…' _

_'I want to fight now…' _Gaara was getting psyched at the action before him, and was aching for a fight that could give him some excitement. '_Any blood will do…'_

_'Naruto-kun, I will not let you use my taijutsu at will! There is something called copyrights y'know!'_ Rock Lee thought angrily as he conveniently forgot that the taijutsu weren't his to begin with.

_'Naruto-kun… I'm glad you won… But what happened to you? You are always bright… Why did you turn cold all of a sudden?'_ Hyuga Hinata thought as Naruto's cold attitude bothered her. She let a sigh of relief as Naruto seemed to have turned back to 'normal' as he grinned back at the balconies. '_I wish I could smile like you…'_

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"Don't underestimate me…" 6 Narutos disappeared with a puff, and the real Naruto stood tall and grand as the victor, despite his extreme exhaustion.

"Winner: Naruto!"

The real Naruto looked up at the balconies, and smiled with cheerfulness as he heard Sakura cheered for him. His previous show of cold attitude was nowhere to be seen. He had mentally noted that no one else cheered, but it didn't matter. Actually, it did matter a little bit that Hinata wasn't cheering, but after contemplating a while about her personality, he thought that it was too much to hope for.

After tossing a pitiful look at Kiba who was out cold and being carried out by the medic nins, he warily walked over back to the balcony with his head down. He was apparently deep in thought. To him, this victory was a one big step to proving that he is indeed himself… He was no demon.

_'Though I have won without the Kyuubi, I must be able to put my emotions under complete control…'_ Naruto thought as he approached Kurenai's team, who was along the way, and not noticing Hinata with her trademark blush.

"N…Na…Naruto-kun…" Hinata called softly as Naruto was thinking too deeply to notice her. '_I wish he would pay a little attention to me…'_ Hinata thought sadly as she tapped him on the shoulder, jerking him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Wha? … Oh, Hinata! Hi!" Naruto broke his foxy grin at the pale eyed girl in front of him. "What is it?" Hinata flushed, and then with a huff, she held out a small ointment to Naruto with her head down. "P…P…Please take it N… Naruto-kun…"

'_Oh? What's this? Hinata's making the first move! This is getting interesting…' _Kurenai switched her attention from butt-kicked Kiba to the young genins in front of her, listening to their exchange of words.

'_Oh no... What if he doesn't accept it!? What if he laughs at me? What if…' _Hinata's silent mental rambling of fear was cut short as Naruto announced a "Thank you Hinata! You're the best!" Hinata's face lit up like a fresh candle lit, and also filled with relief.

"N…No problem Naruto-kun… I hope it works well…" Hinata said with little stuttering, but managed to finish off almost normally. Naruto did not seem to notice her stuttering, and stood next to her happily.

"… Umm… Heh… Is it ok if I stand next to you?" Naruto said with a bit of blush creeping up his face, and felt a weird sensation in his stomach area. Hinata nodded her head so fast that it looked like a blur. Naruto laughed at this, and unknown to two of them, Kurenai was also silently chuckling.

'_Wow… I must be dreaming… Did Naruto-kun just… Asked me if he could stand next to me?!' _Inside, Hinata jumped up in joy and squealed a happy squeal.

----------------

"Sensei, Look at Naruto!" Sakura poked her sensei in the arm, and pointed at the comfy little group standing a few meters to her left. Apparently, they were currently involved in a _deep_ conversation with each other. "Aren't they so KAWAII!??!" Sakura squealed, and then suddenly sighed as she was reminded of her own situation. '_I wish Sasuke-kun would actually talk to me…'_

Kakashi moved his visible eye toward the happy couple who were talking to each other as if they knew each other for months. "Aren't they a happy little couple…?" Kakashi grumbled, and turned his gaze back to his lovely book.

'_Interesting… If I'm correct, Naruto never talked nor paid attention to Hinata before… Is there something I'm missing? … Hm… They DO make a cute couple…' _Kakashi mused as he snickered, looking at the stuff that was inside his perverted book.

----------------

"Shikamaru! Naruto has changed a lot huh?" Ino asked, still dumbfounded by the incredible combo that looked almost EXACTLY alike from her idol Sasuke's combo that was executed by none other than the so called 'dead last' Naruto.

The mentioned Shikamaru grumbled as he softly muttered the dangerous words just under Ino's hearing. "Whatever Ino… it'll give you wrinkles if you keep thinking about stuff.. '_It's just all too troublesome…' …_ "Eh? What's this?" Shikamaru said as he noticed the couple across the arena who were busy talking. '_Ah… So Hinata gets her wish eh?'_ Shikamaru already knew that the Hyuga girl had a thing for Naruto for a **_LOOONG_** time in fact… How could he not? Whenever by chance he saw her during his academy days, she was always looking at Naruto longingly and developing a one, big, heck of a blush whenever she was looking, or near Naruto. He had known this for a long time, but didn't bother to do anything about it since it wasn't his business, and most importantly, troublesome.

"_Ooohh__…_ Looks like somethings up…" Ino said in a very _scary _(for Shikamaru, who just knew that he was not going to like whatever she planned) tone as she noticed the couple. "Interesting..." Ino said as she classified the information as 'stored for later use' and put it under her 'matchmaking' and 'threats and black mail' section mentally.

Shaking his head in hopelessness, Shikamaru decided to indulge into his sleep. '_THIS is the reason why females are so annoying… Love sick girls…' _Shikamaru thought as he ignored a thought that said '_YOU are one of those love sick ones… Just that you're a guy…'_

_----------------_

"…So then, Sasuke was cowering behind me when the bandits showed up, so I saved the day once again!" Naruto exclaimed as he _slightly_ exaggerated one of his missions… Only in truth, was that Naruto DID save the day, but only partially, since Sasuke was the one who took care of the boss. Hinata was listening to him giggling, and was having a time of her life.

'_Just like a dream come true…' _Hinata thought blissfully as she was basking in Naruto's presence. Just then, their little moment was ruined, and Hinata's happy mood came crashing down by the Challenge machine which announced the next fighters. Naruto noticed Hinata's grip tightened on the railing, and her eyes widening. She was trembling a bit too.

Naruto saw the electronic board and thought as his eyes also widened. '_A relative of Hinata's?__ I heard that he is strong… Seems like Hinata fears him…' _Naruto thought as he noted the trembling figure next to him.

…It was an understatement to say that Hyuga Hinata _feared _him.

Hinata blinked a couple of times and tried to convince herself she was just seeing things. The board was merciless, it seemed. It defiantly stated against the girl's wish, the opponent who was the very source of her fear.

'_N…Neji…nii…san…'_

-- Hyuga Neji vs Hyuga Hinata --

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(A/R): I got the basic plot line lined up… I may change around some stuff and all… I hope my chars are not OOC… I did try my best to portray their characters… T . T

I will try to update earlier than this… School's not kidding about giving me a test every week…

Neways, Thank you for the wonderful reviews, and plz review more!

Ja Ne!


	4. Struggle

(A.R :) Hihi! I did post it earlier than last time! School SUCKS! HAHAH!

Thank you reviewers! You're encouragements really brightens my day… sob

Answer time

Someone: Naruto is going to have a single bloodline limit… It will be revealed as the story goes on. (Nothing too fancy… Its just that I thought son of Yondaime should have a bloodline limit...)

Suckers: Eh he he… You noticed, ne? Well, it all goes with the plot… I know they are not that cold but I made them that way anywayz…

A Reviewer: Thank you for elaborate criticisms! I really appreciate them. It shows me what I need to improve on.

Rendal29: Hell yea! SasuNaru feel wrong! (No offence to yaoi fans…)

Ookima: Naruto's little attitude will be answered as story goes along also.

Oh, and Hinata will be a bit different (though not by much)… I felt that anime Hinata went a little overboard about her confidence…

Now on to the story!!

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Endless Rage – Struggle

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'_Oh no…'_ Kurenai was worried for her shy student. Although Hinata was not someone to be underestimated since she was a Hyuga, her lack of confidence greatly lowered her performance in combat. Kurenai knew that the only reason why Hinata even bothered to join the Chuunin exam was to change herself. Neji was a fearsome opponent, according to Asuma. From what he said, Neji has never lost a battle before, and had mastered the Jyuken style.

'_What will you do, Hinata?'_

_----------------_

Hinata was having a massive panic attack. She knew Neji-ni-san's hatred towards her, and he would kill her without even blinking an eye. Hinata would have probably given up already if Naruto wasn't here. He was right next to her, for heaven's sake! What would he think if she gave up now? She could not give up now… She will fight, and show Naruto what she was made of! All the years of watching him in silence… She had witnessed his determination, his hard work, and his hidden strength when everyone thought he was a failure. This was the very core of her admiration towards the blond haired genin. She would be damned if she didn't learn anything from that. She would prove her worthy! Prove worthy enough to be noticed by HIM…

She has made her decision.

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The mentioned person was in deep thought. He has already noticed something fishy between them… He could just tell by the glare Neji threw at the pail girl next to him. For some unexplainable reason, this made him angry. Lots things made him angry these days, it seemed. Although none of them matched up to this height of angriness. It was closely bordering to hatred. He did not know why this infuriated him so, but he managed to shrug it off and turned his attention to the silent girl next to him.

"… Hinata?" Naruto asked her concernedly, shielding his inner turmoil. Hinata looked up back at him with something close to determination in her eyes...

"I'll be going now… Naruto-kun…" With that said, the girl jumped from the railing and landed safely on the arena at the bottom, as Neji did the same while maintaining the glare full of hate and malice. (A.N: Don't ask me how…)

Judge now stood between the competitors, and announced with a flick of his hand, "Let the match begin."

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"Kakashi sensei, do you know anything about them? Their eyes are… Freakish!" Sakura exclaimed as she observed the combatants. She also noticed Lee approaching her within her peripheral vision. '_E…Eye lashes…' _Inner Sakura mentally screamed her head off ranting about how such monstrosity could exist in her perfect little world where Sasuke-kun was. (A.N.: Sorry Lee, I did not mean to make fun of you… I like you a lot!)

"Sakura, you MUST have heard of the Hyuga clan, correct?" Kakashi replied with little more than sarcasm. "After all, they ARE the BIGGEST and most POWERFUL clan of Konoha. If you've never have heard of them, then you can't be called a ninja of Konoha. If I hadn't known better, I would have called you a spy. Isn't that right, Lee-kun?" Kakashi pressed his luck, knowing it would piss her off more than anything. Sakura's pride was that she was the smartest genin of Konoha (book-wise), which means he's insulting her intelligence well as her very pride. Far as he can tell, Sakura doesn't take jokes about her intellectual capability lightly.

"…_Kakashi_ **_SENSEI_**…" Sakura let out incredible amount of killing intent in her glare while including much venom as she could muster in her voice.

'_She's so predictable…'_ Kakashi thought bored. '_Now she's going to say-'_

"Sakura's sensei, do not be mean to her. After all, I promised to protect her with my life!" Lee posed a ridiculous position that resembled Gai's pose in more than its appearance. Lee continued, "Including malicious verbal attempt to damage her fragile heart!" He was obviously ignorant to the previous show of anger by Sakura.

Sakura forgot what she was about to say and sweatdropped. '_What a freak!' _Inner Sakura and Outer Sakura chorused in unison.

Kakashi shook his head at the ridiculousness of his 'eternal rival' (as Gai claims it so)'s pupil. With a resigning sigh, Kakashi grumbled a thought '_Youth these days… No respect at all…'_

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Both Hyugas stood in silence, until Neji spoke with noticeable malice. "I advice you to give up now Hinata-sama, and turn back while you can. I already knew the fate which has given to you the very second our match was announced." Neji performed the seals that unlocked the Byakugan, and grotesque veins appeared around his almost colorless eyes. "My Byakugan is telling me you will lose to me, though I do not even need it to tell me what's going to happen to you."

Hinata stayed silent.

Although Neji didn't show it outward, but it bothered him that known-for-extreme-lack-of-confidence-Hinata-sama was not giving any visible response. His Byakugan has not sensed anything either. Neji chose to press the matter. "I know your reason behind entering this exam. I have said this many times before, and I will repeat myself; people cannot change no matter what. Everyone has a fate given at their birth. Yours, Hinata-sama, is to lose."

Hinata still stayed silent.

Now it irked him. She did not really seem like her usual self… … Bah, why should he care! He already knew the outcome of this fight… It won't matter… Once again, Neji chose to press on. "This is my last warning. Hinata-sama. Give up, and save yourself an embarrass-"

"**SHUT UP!"** Neji was cut off by an angry Naruto screaming his head off. "**Who do you think you are, putting people down like that! You think you're better than everyone!?! Hinata, show him who's boss!"** Naruto shouted with an angry shake of his fist.

Hinata looked up.

----------------

'_How dare he…' _Naruto thought as he finished his statement. This kind of attitude was exactly what he's been receiving ever since he was little, and still receiving. Everyone expected him to fail, and adults looked down upon him with murderous cold eyes.

_Flashback_

_"Naruto, I want you to perform you're henge no jutsu of Hokage-sama. Now." Iruka said patiently._

_Naruto 'hmp'ed, then yelled, "Henge!!" resulting in a something that looked like a wrinkled and shrunken potato with hokage's face imprinted on where it appears to be the face._

_Of course, class erupted into a volley of laughter, mocking and pointing at Naruto._

**_"AHAHAHAHA – WHAT A DUNCE – HAHAHA – STUPID – HAHAHAHA-"_**

_Naruto just stood there, swallowing his tears, just as he told himself that he will never cry again countless times._

_He was not a failure, and he'll make everyone see that. _

_Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his word._

_Flashback Ends_

Every time he'd fail, and then there was no one to pick him up. After all that, this little fricken' albino comes along, talking crap about fate and all. Well, Neji could shove his crap back up his ass. Nobody deserves attitude like that, and least of all, Hinata. From what he'd seen, she was very similar to him. She might be little weird, but she was so far, who had been _nice _to him among his peers. He would not have anyone else treated in a way like they treated him.

"**HINATA! DON'T JUST STAND THERE! TALK BACK TO HIM! IT'S MAKING THE AUDIENCE ANGRY!"** Naruto bellowed once again, and encouraged on the silent Hinata.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, his little outbursts of encouragements were all that she needed.

----------------

'_Naruto-kun is cheering for me… He is watching me… I will **not** fail.' _Hinata thought as she performed seals required for Byakugan, just as Neji did.

"Neji-ni-san, I will not be running away." With that, Hinata got in her Hyuga stance. Neji, looking indifferent, said "A decision you will soon regret, Hinata-sama." He mirrored her stance, and both Hyugas glared down each other.

"Let us begin." Hinata said as veins around her eyes twitched.

Hinata and Neji started circling around each other, looking for any openings. It was Neji who made the first move by charging while thrusting his left palm forward, which was packed with chakra. Hinata dodged to the right with speed she should not have possessed, then with her index and middle fingers, pressed few points on Neji's left arm. In response, Neji growled and began the counter by twirling his upper body with his right palm barely grazing Hinata's stomach. Both jumped apart to gain some distance from each other.

'_Grr__… Who'd knew she would react that fast… My ignorance has caused this… Now my left arm is almost unusable… It's gonna hurt in a bit too… I must take counter measures…' _Neji thought grimly as he grabbed his left arm which has been pressed with Tenketsu points. '_Damn… I did not want to use this, but Hinata-sama is proving more difficult than rumors suggested…'_

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"Whoa… What did she do?" Naruto watched with amazement and curiosity at the strange sight below him. '_She just pressed a few points on his arm… and now he's acting like it's broken or something… Wow… Is that really Hinata?'_

"That is Hyuga's Jyuken Ryu. It is quite formidable. Few hits may prove to be fatal." Kurenai explained Naruto's unspoken question. Although she did not show it, but Kurenai was also pleasantly surprised. '_This… Naruto boy… Does he mean this much to you Hinata?'_

"Um… Jyuken-what??" Naruto asked dumbly again, not quite catching what the young jounin said, earning a tired sigh.

"Hinata uses chinese-style called Jyuken." Making sure Naruto understood her this time, she continued. "There are 2 types of taijutsu; Tekken, the Iron Fist style, and Jyuken, the Gentle Fist style. Tekken is physical-damage centered style, such as breaking bones and flesh." Kurenai triple checked Naruto's attention again. "… While Jyuken goes for chakra inner coil system, which is the path way for chakra." Naruto stared incredulous. "Wha? Inner-whats it called?" Kurenai had a large vein on her forehead, and Naruto got the answer. "Um… Hehe… Just kidding… Um… Can they even see the inner thingy?" Naruto asked as he tried to look innocent as possible. Kurenai gave up, and continued. "Hyugas have something special called the 'Byakugan', which allows them to see someone's chakra inner coil system. This is what makes the Hyuga so powerful. They insert their own chakra into their opponent's coil. By doing so, the inner coil system is damaged, as so is the surrounding organ. Even if it just nicks you, it's going to hurt. A lot."

Naruto just stared. After a moment of silence, He asked, "… So there is no way to beat it? How do you train your organs?"

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"…You can't." Lee stated plainly as Sakura stared at the fighters below them. "You can train you're muscles and bones, but not you're organs such as heart, lung, and various other organs. That is why Jyuken is so fearsome." Lee finished with a grim look on his face.

"Then, you can't beat them?" Sakura asked while still being amazed by the seemingly freakish pair down in the arena. '_I wish I had powers like that…' _Sakura thought grudgingly.

"It would be hard, but I do NOT believe they are invincible." Still grim, Lee told solemnly half to himself. '_I will never believe that… Someday, I will defeat you Neji…'_

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Neji and Hinata were still facing off. None of them made a move… yet. Neji seemed to be calculating and Hinata was… well… You just couldn't tell.

Once again, Neji made the first move. Neji threw a kunai aimed for Hinata's eye, and she deflected it with a kunai of her own. Unfortunately, this was exactly what Neji has been waiting for.

"You are within my field of _Hakke._" Neji hissed as he moved his usable arm behind him, as his left arm laid limp. Hinata's eye slightly widened as she recognized the stance. Neji wasted no time.

"_Jyuken Ryu! Sixty-Four Hands of Hakke!" _Neji yelled as he performed the devastating attack, but with his left hand unusable, he had to move his right hand twice as fast. '_Damn… I can't keep this up… This is a pain in the neck doing it with only 1 hand… … What?' _Surprisingly, his fingers were blocked by small wall of chakra, and then Neji's eyes widened a great deal as he realized what had just happened. '_C…Could it be…? I don't understand… How could she use it?'_

Hinata whirled.

Needless to say, he was blown back quite roughly away from her, and crashed into the wall.

"Neji-ni-san… Please do not underestimate me…" Hinata stated looking quite proud. "After all, I am the heiress of the Hyuga main house…" Hinata looked up at Naruto while her Byakugan is still active. '_Naruto-kun… Am I worthy?'_

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(A.R.) Ehem, Now, I know you're all gonna fuss about Hinata being OOC… I meant it that way! She seemed so weak in the series… so I changed her a little bit.

Newayz,

Ja ne!


	5. Found

(A.R.) Hi Hiya everyone! Sry if this chappy took so long. I was VERY busy and under stress… T . T Ne waz, Answer for the enlightening reviews!

A Reviewer: Once again, thank you for criticisms. I know I won't be able to write like Mr. Tokehgecko, but I'm still trying. (He's an example for the fanfiction authors… Writes good, lots, and updates quick…)

S-Wanderer999: The Hyuga thing… The Byakugan is what makes them so dangerous. It's more than just pushing your chakra into your opponent… You gotta aim where you want to if you want to achieve deadliness… Also, the anime/manga says jounin level shinobi can emit chakra from their finger tips… While Hyugas emit from all over their body, etc… So only certain individuals could achieve it. Naruto being unintelligent… What I meant was that he is dense in relationships area… He's gonna be a genius in jutsus, and all the other crap… He's not gonna be so smart in noticing people… Oh, and one more thing… It's good that you make predictions, but please do NOT post them. Keep them to yourself, and don't ruin it for other people. The author gets angry. ( )

And everyone else who reviewed, THOUSAND THANKS AND OVER! I love you all

Now, on with da story!

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Endless Rage – Found

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'_Wow…'_ Naruto thought for umpteenth times as he watched the pale girl fight. She was fighting with an unexplainable grace, and deadliness. It was like… Watching a dance… Her movements were flowing, and it was a beautiful sight indeed. Her short, blue hair would flow beautifully with her graceful movement, and her eyes shone with determination she possessed.

'_She's… _so _cool…' _The blond haired genin's mind has produced such comment, but was not bothered by it… It was as normal as eating his ramen. It just came naturally…

----------------

Currently, Neji was having a hard time (though he would never admit it), against the Hyuga heiress. She proved to be a quite a challenge for him, since he has never fought another Hyuga before. Currently she was focusing on immobilizing him it seems… Rumors have proven false. She was not quite weak as Hyuga main house states as… Having mastered Kaiten is a proof of her strength. Not many mastered the secret art of the Hyuga main house, for he only knew few people (that being himself, his father, and Hizashi) who could perform the Heavenly Spin.

'_This makes it all the more interesting… Unfortunately, it will take more than this to defeat me!'_ Neji thought confidently as he dodged Hinata's palm aimed for his shoulder. The blows he's been dodging were semi-fatal, since she can just tap him to paralyze him. Neji himself could easily paralyze her as well, but it was kind of hard with his primary left arm unusable. Currently, both had not done any visible damage, but the effect of the deadly Jyuken would show as the fight went on sooner of later.

'_She mocks me… The main house… I will make an example of her…'_ Neji's usual hatred for the main house has returned from current flow of events (which surprised him a whole lot and forgot about it), he decided he would finish this off.

'_Wait… Jyuken utilizes the chakra pathways to damage internal organs, and to control the flow of your enemies' chakra. Then, this numbness of my left arm can be prevented if I press here and there…'_

Neji grinned maliciously. He wasn't called the Hyuga Genius for nothing.

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"Shikamaru, do you know who is winning? I can't really tell… It seems to me Hinata is doing just fine… I thought you said that Neji was dangerous…?" Ino asked as she observed the weird battle where the Hyugas just seem to be trying to slap and poke each other to death.

"Why are they fighting like that anyways? I don't think you can KILL people by poking each other forever..." Ino abruptly stopped her questions, as she noticed what her teammate was doing. Now, she was _ticked_… '_Shikamaru… How dare you! Dozing off to sleep, instead of paying attention to me!' _Of course, he would have to pay for this. Shikamaru, who was dozed off again to his cloud – heaven, somehow noticed the blond girl's displeasure, and forced himself to squeeze an eye open.

"…Huh?" From somebody with high intellectual capabilities like Shikamaru, that was probably not the best answer he should have provided at the moment. The reason is that such reaction would cause Ino's radioactive attitude to raise a notch, which will result 93.8 chance of inflicting great pain to Shikamaru.

"…" Ino's fist trembled WAY too close to his groggy face, and in seconds, it would be shoved in his face.

'_Oh shit…'_ Fortunate for Shikamaru, the danger has set his genius mind to work overtime and create an escape route from his fate. '_I don't like this, but… This calls for extreme measures…'_

"**Shi… Ka… Ma… RU!!" **Ino's voice was laced with killing intent, but she could not see what the pony tailed genin was doing, since she closed her eye in feeble attempt to restrain herself from inflicting serious injuries. '_She probably would have screamed already if she had her eyes open…' _Shikamaru thought as he performed simple seals, and softly muttered '_henge_'.

"**YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS DEARLY SHIKAaaaAA…?** Huh? Sasuke-kun?" Ino opened her eyes to find her one and only idol, Uchiha Sasuke leaning against the wall, looking calm and stoic as always.

"**SASUKE-KUN!"** Ino immediately tried to grope him, but so-called 'Sasuke' immediately ducked, and then canceled the transformation with a puff.

"Gee, you girls really throw yourself at him, don't you…" Shikamaru stated somewhat bitterly, and then went back to his beloved sleep. What happened to Ino? Her launched face had a little face-to-face meeting with the wall Shikamaru was leaning against with full force, and had passed out from impact.

'_Always be aware of your surroundings…'_ That was the last thought of Shikamaru's ingenious mind before it fell into blissful darkness where clouds roamed free.

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'_I must stay alert… Neji-nii-san is not a one to go easy on me.'_

Indeed, Hinata had thought correctly, as Neji suddenly rushed towards her in what seemed to be blinding rage, Hinata did her best to lessen the grazing touch of chakra, and tried to hit Neji in the process. Unfortunately, Neji seems to have predicted her, and gained distance as he jumped back to safety.

He then grinned like a cat that has eaten the fat canary.

"Hinata-sama… Do you still think that you will win the match? It's not too late to give up… for I have found ways to counter my body's reaction towards Tenketsus." Neji then turned his all-seeing gaze toward his limp left arm, and pressed many points here and there with blinding speed with his right arm. After he has done so, his limp arm started to twitch, and the twitch grew every second to spasms, until it finally stopped. Neji gripped his left wrist and held it while clenching and unclenching his left hand as if to test it. Grinning satisfied, he turned his gaze back to his opponent.

"I thank you Hinata-sama, for letting me have time to recover the use of my left arm." Neji bowed mockingly.

Hinata stared on at her cousin's arm, amazed, which was now moving quite normally.

"Let's finish this, shall we?"

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'_Ingenious… He has fully recovered his left arm by utilizing his flow of chakra correctly… Undoing Hyuga's Jyuken damage… He is indeed the Hyuga Genius.' _Kakashi thought as he observed the fight, which seemed to be favoring Neji now. Neji attacked quick and gracefully at Hinata with speed that was hard to follow with untrained eyes, unlike Kakashi's. The fact that Neji uncovered a way to regain strength from Jyuken damage in itself was astounding, while the fact that he figured it during a midst of a battle shined even brighter.

'_A true genius.'___

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Hinata gritted her teeth, while she felt the damages from her cousin's barrage of attacks. They seemed to rain down upon her with unforgiving strength and power, while she could do no more than defend herself pathetically. Her cousin was indeed superior in strength, and the fact that he was enraged made it even worse. Though Hinata was already going beyond her limits, Neji was slowly rendering her defenses useless despite her effort.

'_Is this my extent…?'_

Neji pounded her stomach.

'_Am I doomed to fail?'_

Hinata flew high in the air.

'_Am I forever to be humiliated?'_

With a bone-shattering impact, Hinata landed on the floor on her back.

'_Will I… die?_

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Neji stood triumphant, while looking down at the injured form of Hinata. She was lying across the cold floors, wearing a pained expression.

'_She got what she deserved. I have warned her, and she did not listen… Destiny has already chosen the winner. She will not get up.'_

Though Neji thought it was not possible, Hinata slowly stood when Hayate was about to announce Neji the winner.

"cough, cough… Neji-ni-san… I will not go down… Not… yet… I must… prove myself… to someone who I deeply admire… I, I must not fail yet…" Hinata spoke softly between pained gasps and coughs. "Ni-san… cough, though you may not think so… I know your struggles…"

'_H, how dare she talk like she knows me… How **dare she!!'**_****

Unaware or aware of thoughts going through the young Hyuga Genius, Hinata continued. "I have… suffered long, too… My father does not acknowledge me as his daughter anymore… I am a mere weakling to his eyes… but Neji-ni-san… I have found something I believe in… I cannot lose… Not in front of him…" Hinata once again took stance, but this time, with new burning determination in her eyes. "I _will_ defeat you, ni-san…"

"Hinata-sama… Do you really think you can change? Is that what you believe in? A person is born with a destiny… A loser will always be a loser. The main house-"

"The person… who's lost and suffering in the branch house… it's you… isn't it, ni-san? My Byakugan… I can see… that I am not the only one…"

'_S, She…!!!' _Neji did not answer, as his eyes widened in pure hate. His fists clenched and trembled, as he tried desperately to control his rage, but soon proved futile. He charged blindly in rage, clearly intending to kill her. "Neji-kun! This match is over!" Hinata heard the judge call out in panic, but she ignored his warning and also charged at her cousin at an almost equal speed. Although, her gaze was one of acceptance and fondness, in contrast of Neji's burning, consuming rage.

'_Naruto-kun… have I… changed myself… even just a little bit?'_

Both combatants collided, though it was hard to see what had exchanged between the two. Nonetheless, it was Hinata who was knocked into the air once again, and she plummeted to the ground.

----------------

_'I will **kill** her for even presuming that she knows me!'_ Neji thought, as he gazed up at his object of hatred. Hinata-sama was still in the air, conscious or unconscious, though most likely the latter. He saw her reach the maximum height of his blow, and falling to the ground in almost slow motion. '_This is my chance!'_

Neji gathered chakra to his feet easily, and then jumped towards the falling Hinata. Even though blinded by rage, he had unconsciously measured the height and the angle he would need to gain in order to finish her off completely. Neji grinned in darkly, imagining his victory. Dark, evil look resided on Neji's usually calm, pale face as he prepared for the kill.

"Goodbye, Hinata-sama."

Thrusting his left palm filled with deadly chakra towards her open, unguarded chest, Neji aimed for Hinata's (or anybody else's, for that matter) most vulnerable organ: her heart.

'_This is it…!' _So engrossed in his satisfaction, Neji barely detected an orange blur charging between him and his target, let alone react to it. '_I, impossible!'___

Neji's palm had struck down an air-born Naruto.

----------------

Neji stared on, shocked at the result. Naruto was falling, right along side with an unconscious Hyuga heiress to the unforgiving ground. '_What the… Fool! To risk his life for another… For a loser like her…' _Neji landed lightly on the ground, while both Naruto and Hinata had hit the ground hard. '_Damn… That was my chance! I'll make you pay for interrupting my affairs, dead-last…'_

Neji then noticed all the other jounins who had gathered around him, each in positions where they could stop his movement at anytime. Each jounins were either ready to perform hand seals, or had kunai aimed at his vital organs.

"Neji-kun, please stop this immediately." Hayate spoke in his sickly manner, his right hand pointing towards his forehead, and left hand ready to form seals.

"Che, so Main House's Heiress gets special treatments too, huh. Pathetic spoiled brat."

"Take… that… back… you freak…" Naruto coughed out the words, as blood streamed down his mouth. He stood up shakily, clutching his chest in extreme pain. "Heheh… is this how you treat your family? Ignorant bastard… cough" More blood coughed out of his mouth as he spoke.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Academy's Number One dead-last. I suggest you keep out of things you simply cannot comprehend… You'll live a lot longer that way." Neji replied with unconcealed mockery, and with a hint of disgust. "Though, you may not live much longer anyway."

"cough… Heh… I don't die easily… and you better not underestimate me either, Hyuga punk…" Naruto replied with equal, if not exceeding amount of disgust in his tone. '_Some people… they just don't understand how lucky they are to have a family…'_

"Whatever. Talk all you want." Neji abruptly turned around, and calmly walked towards the stairs. Naruto gritted his teeth in absolute hatred, as he glared at the back of the retreating Hyuga genius. '_I'll make you pay… Arrogant people like you… Just you wait… Uzumaki Naruto NEVER goes back on his words…' _With the deadly oath made, he turned around to gaze upon the unmoving form of Hinata, who was oblivious to the world.

"Winner, Hyuga Neji." Hayate stated as he retracted his hand seals pointed at Neji, while the other jounins followed the same and jumped back up to the railings.

This time around, medic nins have already arrived, examining the pupil-less girl's condition. They opened her thick jacket, and checked for her pulse on her neck and chakra level on her chest. One of them exclaimed, "Hurry! She's in critical condition!" Then they hurriedly lifted the girl on the stretcher, and ran past Naruto's questioning gaze.

'_Hinata… she is… similar to… me…?' _Naruto also then turned towards the stairs, and walked back up to the railings.

----------------

"Cough Let us start the last match… Participants Gaara and Rock Lee please come down to the arena. Cough" Hayate said as he read off the electronic board, since nobody was really paying attention except the mentioned Gaara. He was already standing in the middle of the arena, while specs of sand flailed around him like a miniature typhoon.

"YOOOSH! IT'S MY TURN!" Rock Lee yelled happily as he jumped off the rail in excitement.

The preliminary was drawing to a close.

----------------

(A.R.) YAAAY! THE CHAPPY IS FINISHED! This was soooo hard to write, because I did not really paid attention to Hinata and Neji fight… (I actually skipped half of it…) I hope it makes sense…

Anywaz,

Ja ne!


	6. Hidden

(A.R.): Hiya Everyone! I got a prereader! Im so happy! Well, there's not much to be said, than THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS!

ON TO THE STORY!

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Endless Rage – Hidden

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"Yosh!! Its my turn!"

----------------

Gai felt really proud of his student. He was always bright, determined, and never gave up. It was like looking at a better version of his younger self. He felt like boasting, and that's what he did.

"Kakashi, I think you will witness something more amazing than your Uchiha… That is one of my pupils, Rock Lee! I bet you'll be jealous!" Gai stated happily/dramatically as his prized student jumped off the railing to fight his strange opponent.

"Hn? D'you say something Gai?" Kakashi replied nonchalantly, and Gai silently cried at the corner for his defeat. '_Your damn coolness has defeated my fiery passion once again! One of these days, you will crawl beneath my feet!!!'_ Gai thought as he cried, and was formulating a plan, which was sadly disrupted by a loud bang in the arena.

"That Lee kid might have some problems…" Kakashi stated to Gai, who was in shock of what has happened to his student.

'_Lee… Be careful…'_ Gai thought worriedly as he observed Lee's odd opponent.

----------------

'_Shit… What is this? I tried shuriken, punches, kicks, almost everything I had in my possession, and not even a scratch! It feels like I'm punching a solid metal or something… He hasn't even moved an inch yet! I've never met such opponent… I may need to use **that** technique…'_ Lee thought incredulously as he dodged massive waves of sand one after another. '_Is he ever gonna run out of sand or something?'_

"Is that all you got...?" Gaara's intimidating, yet frightening voice rang out above the sound of the sand going about to decompose his opponent limb to limb. Gaara seemed… bored.

"This fight needs more…" Gaara's expressionless face suddenly twisted into a sickening longing grin. "**BLOOD…**" With that, the sand moved more vigorously to crush its opponent.

'_What's up with him…? Bloodlust?'_ Lee thought as he dodged another pile of sand that came at him like a beast, which strangely resembled a hand. As the hand was about to grab Lee's leg, he disappeared then reappeared on top of the statue of Hand Seal.

"**LEE! YOU MAY TAKE THEM OFF NOW!"** Gai yelled at Lee confidently, while showing his white, sparkling teeth which blinded many people in the arena.

"**BUT GAI SENSEI!**** I THOUGHT YOU SAID I CAN TAKE THEM OFF ONLY WHEN I'M PROTECTING SOMEONE IMPORTANT!" **Lee yelled at top of his lungs at his sensei to get his message across, then received a reassuring thumbs up with a bonus wink. "**IT'S ALL RIGHT! COME ON LEE, I ALLOW IT!**"

"**YOSH!!!!**" Lee dramatically yelled again as he took his hidden weights off. Each of them had 'Guts' written on them.

'_Hmp__, what a fool… A few weights will not going to change any-'_ Temari's thoughts were interrupted as the weights Lee dropped created a gigantic craters which seemed to measure up to 5 meters wide each. '_'the hell…?'_

'_Holy shit… That's a lot of weight…'_ Sakura thought as her eyes bulged out more than usual, and her neat hair stuck out everywhere from the surprise.

"Isn't that a bit too much Gai…" Kakashi smirked while Gai muttered something under his breath which sounded like '_Always acting so cool…'_

----------------

"Here I come!" Lee suddenly disappeared from the statue, and then reappeared behind Gaara. '_What…?'_ Gaara almost didn't even get to finish his thought as a vicious punch came through his Suna no Tate and smacked right on his cheek. The force behind the blow was so strong that he rolled over several feet.

'_I… It can't be… He **wounded** **Gaara**_...' Temari and Kankuro thought simultaneously as they watched incredulously at their youngest brother who has never _ever_been wounded… Scratch that, never even been **_hit_** before… '_This is bad…'_

"I'm not done yet!" Lee kicked around Gaara with inhuman speed, and Suna no Tate did not help much. "Time to finish this!" Lee punched him in the gut while charging forward, putting all his momentum and strength in that one punch. Although the Suna User was doubled over, Lee could not help to think that he was punching a brick wall or something… The guy's body seemed to be very sturdy, and hard. '_Whatever it was, there was no shield to protect him, so that had to have hurt.'_

That was why Lee was dumbfounded when he saw Gaara standing back up again like it was nothing, as he noticed something peculiar.

His face was crumbling.

'_What in the world…?'_ Now, cracks appeared all over his body as he seemed to be shedding skin… Only difference was that it was made out of sand.

Gaara now stood with insanely grin with his eyes frighteningly widened. "**_Yes… Nobody has ever stood up against me before… Let me kill you… You who have been able to penetrate my Suna no Tate… If I kill you… It will give me a sense of meaning… The feeling of being… Alive… Yes… Now… Let me feel it!!"_** Gaara smirked as he summoned even more sand that which covered the whole arena. Lee, who did not know how to fly, was in a deep shit.

Some of the sand started to whirl towards Lee, who hastily jumped back on to the statue, which had no sand and had height advantage.

'_Damn… Should I just Omote Renge? I was saving that for Neji…' _Lee hastily started to unwrap his bandages on his arm, and then yelled, "**Gai sensei! May I use _that _technique?" **Receiving a blinding shine of Gai's teeth and his thumbs-up, Lee acknowledged, and then charged.

Gaara only smirked as he just stood there, arms folded. The sand around him did not even try to protect him as Lee's devastating Omote Renge was executed. Gaara was sent flying upwards by his chin being kicked from below, and then Lee started kicking upwards in mid air. Suna no Tate seemed ineffective. Lee wasted no time, as he wrapped the bandages around Gaara, and then descended to the ground like a spinning tornado. The impact created an explosion which looked strangely like a lotus. Out of the smoke, Lee jumped out panting. Gaara just laid there, his arm still folded, with cracks all over his body.

'_Nothing could have survived that… Nothing!'_ Lee thought as for some reason, dread spread within him. Hayate slowly walked towards the unmoving Gaara, then was about to announce Lee the winner, then he noticed something.

Gaara's ear was falling off.

'_No way…'_ Lee thought in horror as his legs were clamped down as sand silently seized him without noticing. He heard sand moving behind him, so he turned his head around with dread.

Gaara stood in the middle of whirling sand, unharmed, and smirking.

"H… How…?!" Lee asked to nobody in particular in shock.

----------------

"It was right before your student attacked him… Even I could not even sense him while he disappeared… Somehow, he dissolved into the sand while your student executed the combo. That was quite an amazing combo, however. Wasn't that a forbidden jutsu, Gai?" Kakashi asked plainly and he regarded the 'rival' next to him, who had his face scrunched up in shock.

"Wh…What?! Renge _missed!? _How the hell...! Renge is a desperation move! It damages the user almost as much as the receiver! It also gives incredible amount of stress to the muscle! And it _MISSED!?_" Gai sputtered as he pointed frantically at the arm-folded Gaara.

"... Lee probably won't be able to execute another one, unless…" Gai's ramble was cut short by a sharp scream, which has erupted from the sand boy.

----------------

"**_Tell me… Which should I crush first… Your arm…? Your leg…? Or rather, your HEAD? Choose… It will not make much difference to me…"_** Gaara was sadistically enjoying this. He never had this much fun since…

That brought out his old memories.

He felt his headache returning as his head felt like hundred drills drilling through his head, and then bashing it with a gigantic mallet. He could not take the agony, which was splitting his skull in half, did one thing that came to mind.

He screamed. He screamed a scream that struck both sympathy and fear at the same time in deepest part of people's soul.

"**_Aaahhhh_********_ My head! Mother!! I'll kill YOU ALL!! Arrghhh!"_** Gaara yelled and yelled, so much that he lost control over his sand, and they started breaking and crashing into anything that came into contact. Fortunately, as soon as the sand grip was loosened, Lee has gotten away to a safe distance, which being the top of the statue. He observed the scene carefully, trying to understand what was going on.

The arena was already crumbling, as the sand struck everywhere randomly, and was filled with craters. Everyone watched with a 'deer in the headlight' fashion as the sand thrashed around wildly. Gaara took no heed of the stares, as he still screamed his head off, occasionally saying things that did not make sense to people, excluding Kankuro, Temari, and surprisingly, Naruto.

"**_NO! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE! IT HURTS! AHH!! WHAT IS THIS PAIN!!! I DON'T UNDERSTAND!! LOVE!? WHAT IS LOVE!? ARRG!! YASHAMARU!! MOTHER!! FATHER!!"_**

****

Everyone stared, shocked and petrified, as Gaara started yelling something that they did not, could not comprehend.

All but one Uzumaki Naruto.

****

----------------

Naruto listened and watched the red head intently. He somehow… understood the message within the terrible scream. The sorrow… Gaara's sorrow very well matched his own. Deep inside Naruto, he knew it himself. He bottled it all up, and tried to fill in the void by getting attention, and acknowledgement… But it was futile. The void was still there, and he knew he's still missing the key factor; Love and acceptance. Although he knew what he was missing, he could not find them. They were something that is given to him. He cannot earn it, nor find it. He could do nothing, but hope. The villager's eyes are so cold and rejecting… It was all because of the Kitsune inside him… The adults just ignored him, or when they were forced to socialize with him, they would show extreme carelessness, and was very sensitive about the distance between them. If he got within the radius of 6 feet around them, they would either walk away from him to gain some more distance, or say harsh words to him that scarred him deep.

He was fed up with them, until he met Iruka-sensei.

He was the only one who did not look at him with cold eyes… Well, now he didn't. Before Iruka took pity on him, He was just as same as everyone else. Cold and distant, but as the time passed, he somehow saw the heartbroken boy behind the exterior of a cheerful, loud-mouthed boy. If it weren't for Iruka, he would have probably ran away a long time ago.

The red head's rambling brought out all his bad memories; all of them. He related himself to Gaara, and then was surprised to find out that both were extremely alike. What was weird was that Naruto kept seeing these _images_ of the sand boy. All his past, his pain, his loss… He saw them all. He somehow got the feeling that Gaara was seeing his memories also. Why?

Cause Gaara was glaring right at him while screaming incoherent sentences.

Naruto barely caught the last part of Gaara's ramble.

"**_KYUUBI…?"_**

****

****_Wha__…what?!'_

****

**_----------------_**

****

Gaara was puzzled. While he was being mentally tortured to half-dead state, he saw images pass before his eyes. Images that weren't his own. Someone else's…

'_The blond loud mouth… Why am I seeing this?'_

__In the midst of the pain, he saw how the boy lived his life; being hated, and shunned. The loneliness he felt, having no family, learning to live alone, and enduring the hatred around him.

'_I would have killed them all a long time ago…'_

Instead, the blond turned to the opposite way – to prove himself, gain acknowledgement, and gain a sense of existence. Gaara himself yearned for love and acknowledgement, and he found out that he could feel something close to that when killing a person. Yashamaru was the one who taught him about a cure for his heartache – 'love'. Although it was short lived, he thought that he felt that emotion… Only to be taken away by Yashamaru himself. As he told Gaara that his mother never loved him, his ray of hope vanished, and came to conclusion that all else lives only to be killed by himself. Gaara liked it that way somewhat, but he still had the heartaches, and occasional headaches as a bonus now. Whenever his memories surfaced into his mind, all hell would break loose.

He stared up at the blond, cursing at the would-be-source of these images.__

The images were flashing slower than before, but they were darker than the other ones also. They seemed to be the boy's deepest secrets. Indeed, for then Gaara of the Sand witnessed the deepest inner demon of the blond boy.

It was a major understatement to say that Gaara never felt fear.

'_Wh__… What is that…? A fox… There is another who bears something like Shukaku?!'_ Gaara thought in terror as he stared at the image of Kyuubi's flaming red eyes contained with malice and hatred gathered over the millennia.

**"_Kyuubi…"_** Gaara whispered the terrible name that suddenly came out of nowhere.

As if to taunt him, the image was stuck there, refusing to go away. Gaara found himself unable to move an inch, frozen by fear. Even if it was just an image, it was so realistic… It struck pure fear inside his heart.

'_I don't want to die… I don't want to die…'_

He stopped screaming now, and was crouched on the ground with his sand swirling around him, creating a miniature tornado. As he repeated his mantra, an incredible blow to his chin with a yell "Sekandarii Renge!" broke him out of his state.

----------------

'_I don't know what's going on, but I'll finish this!' _Lee thought as he readied himself for Sekandarii Renge.

'_Lotus of Konoha always blooms twice…'_ With that, Lee charged forward to execute the forbidden jutsu.

"Sekandarii Renge!" Lee started the combo with a kick so fast that it looked like a blur. Gaara was in the air, still shocked, and Lee started to kick him around in the air, while maintaining a decent line. While he kicked, Lee saw Gaara's eyes, and his own eyes widened in surprise. '_Is that… Fear?'_

Sadly, that was the last thought the bowl head got before Gaara's eyes turned back to his normal, cold unforgiving eyes, and the sand appeared around him to block all Lee's moves again. The sand's speed has increased, as the density. That meant that Lee's kicks and punches were useless now. Luckily for Gaara, he had his Suna no Yoroi on, so did not receive any damage from the initial blow.

Gaara now toyed around with Lee, who was struggling to dodge all the tearing sand. Every time the sand laid a blow, Lee would be butchered; the sand ripped and crushed.

'_I have one last option left…' _Lee thought desperately as he glanced at his mentor.

Gai seemed to have read his thoughts, and nodded.

Lee's moves suddenly turned normal, as he dodged the sands with previous ease. After he gained some distance, he became deathly serene, as chakra started flowing out of him.

This was the 8 Celestial Inner Body Gates.

----------------

"Don't tell me that you taught him **that** jutsu… I lost faith in you Gai..." Kakashi stated with disappointed tone; he knew what that technique could do to a person. It would leave the person ripped apart, or better yet, dead. If a teacher taught a student that kind of technique, that person could not be called a teacher.

"What… do… **YOU**… know about HIM" With uncharacteristic malice in his tone, Gai sharply replied.

"Do you… know what he has gone through? He has something that he has to protect at his life at cost… It is his nindo. Do you think I was happy teaching him that? He's a genius, Kakashi. Not the kind of Uchiha prodigy, but a TRUE, hardworking genius. He never gives up. Sort of like one of your students… Naruto, was it? If you knew your student better, you might be able to understand Lee better. Until that day, you do not have the right to say anything."

Kakashi did not retort. He stood there, still cool and calm, but inside he was taking in all his fellow rival has said. '_Understand Naruto…'_

The more he thought about the loud mouthed genin, he found himself that he knew Naruto's deepest hidden secrets, but not the person who resides within. He knew about his father, Kyuubi, his seal, and that he liked ramen… but that was it. What else did he know about him? Nothing. For all Kakashi knew, laughs and smiles could be all façade.

Kakashi did not like being left in the dark.

He came to a conclusion that the Naruto he knew now was not really the Naruto. It was an empty shell; a façade… To protect him from the world's cold gaze… It did not help much, he realized, but it was still there. Kakashi felt shame rising as he remembered that he had been neglecting Naruto over Sasuke. He also realized that he was somewhat of a hypocrite – he always thought of himself better than other people's attitude towards Naruto, but in reality, he was just being an acquaintance.

Kakashi came, Kakashi left. That was just how it was. The bottom line was; He did not really care for Naruto. As a teammate, yes. As a person, no.

Kakashi fought hard to resist the sudden urge to kill himself.

----------------

Lee stood straight as overwhelming chakra expanded out of his body. He was forcing his limits, he knew. After this, he would be lucky if he could use Renge again. Hell, he would be lucky if he could even do Taijutsu anymore! This technique was truly dangerous, and he had to be careful.

'_Opening Initial Gate, Heal Gate, Life Gate…'_

Lee's skin became red, and veins bulged out on his forehead, freakishly resembling Byakugan.

_I will not be the only one who fails here… Neji… Sasuke… And… Naruto…_

'_… Opening Wound Gate… Limit Gate… I am ready.'_

_Watch closely Neji…_

"**Now is the time to abide by and protect my way of the ninja! Gaara, here I come!"** After opening the many gates as possible, Lee charged with blinding speed, which both Gaara and the sand could not detect. The result of that was Gaara being thrown in mid air, and punched and kicked around while still being suspended in air. Sand could do nothing except to try and follow the moves futilely.

'_Damn it… My armor is being ripped off… Is this really human movement?' _Gaara questioned incredulously, as he has never seen anything like this. It was simply incredible.

The audience could not even see (excluding jounins and such) where Lee was; only seeing after images, and a Gaara Rag Doll.__

----------------

"Kakashi sensei… How is Lee-san doing this?" Sakura, who wisely taken a step back before in adult's arguments, now could not hold in her curiosity and asked.

"It is… The 8 Celestial Inner Body Gates… It's not something that anybody could do… It opens all chakra gates of a person, which controls the flow of chakra. There are 8 in total; Initial, Heal, Life, Wound, Limit, View, Wonder, and Death. If a person could open all 8, then the person gains greater strength than a Kage for a short amount of time. The set back is that… After the person is done… They often… _Die._" Kakashi explained the consequences to Sakura, who could not hold her horror.

"Lee-san is not going to… die… is he?" Sakura asked again, fear creeping in her voice.

"It depends… Gai, how many gates can he open?" Kakashi asked Gai with an accusing tone. Gai either didn't notice, or ignored it for once.

"…5." Came the simple answer.

Kakashi fought an urge to gasp. "5? That's not something that could be done with hard work alone… Maybe he is a genius after all…" Kakashi said in a subdued surprised tone while revealing his Sharingan eye for better observation.

'_Lee-san… Be careful.'_

----------------

Lee gritted his teeth as he felt his left arm muscle being torn. '_Just a little longer… I should finish this off with __Ura__Range__…'_

While Gaara was being pummeled, Suna no Tate was proven useless. The speed which Lee was moving was not something that the sand wall could catch up to. Gaara only had his Suna no Yoroi, but it was slowly being pealed off.

'_I will win this… Even if it costs my life!'_ Lee held Gaara's robe, then used that to launch him back to Lee, who had a fist waiting.

'_Opening… View gate!!' _Lee exceeded his limits and opened the next gate.

Gai's eyes visibly widened as he noticed what Lee had done. '_No… Lee, don't go that far…'_

His silent pleas went unheard, and Lee punched Gaara several times in the gut with speed resembling lightning. Gaara's Suna no Yoroi could not stand much longer, but Lee gave him no time to think as he prepared for Ura Range.

"**Gaara, this is it!**" Lee yelled, "**URA****RANGE** As he disappeared for a second, then reappeared, only to have his fist shoving Gaara down to the ground. Gaara's Suna no Yoroi was still in effect, and protected him from initial punch, but he did not think he could be unharmed when he hit the ground at this rate. It was then the gourd decided to show its true form and turned into sand.

Everything was in slow motion, as Gai watched the gourd defend its master. '_Gourd turned into sand…? NO!'_

There was a big explosion as both competitors crashed into the ground with a bang, and when the smoke cleared, Lee was panting heavily, and crawling on the floor, while Gaara was lying in the sand with his Suna no Yoroi cracked. It seemed that Suna no Tate absorbed the impact at the last minute. Lee and Gai were dumbfounded, as Gaara slowly rose up in the middle, seeming to be unharmed once again.

'_Impossible!! He HAS to have sustained at least some damage! If 8 Celestial Inner Body Gates did not even scratch him, then what will?!' _Gai thought as he watched horrified. The sand was closing in on Lee.

----------------

Lee's muscles received incredible amount of stress and damage while using the forbidden technique, and his arm muscles were ripped and torn. He could not even stand right. Worst of all, Gaara seemed to be fine. Lee felt truly scared as Gaara formed a seal in hand, and sand responded with a massive waves coming towards him. Lee tried to crawl away, but his left arm and leg was grabbed by the sand's iron grip. Sand smacked him against the ground couple of times so hard, that he almost lost consciousness. Gaara proceeded to use one of his most gruesome attack.

"Sabaku Sousou!"

With a sickening crunch, Lee's arm and legs were crushed with unimaginable pressure, as sand did what its master commanded. Lee screamed in extreme pain, as he felt his arm's every muscle being ripped, and his every bone being crushed. Gaara thought that it wasn't enough, so he tried to engulf Lee whole. Lee still desperately tried to dodge the attack, but he could not even crawl an inch away. Gaara would have succeeded in crushing Lee's every last bone into crumbs, if Gai had not interrupted.

"That's enough. You have already won this match." Gai said as he slapped away the incoming sand.

Images flashed in Gaara's mind once more. This time, it was HIS darkest memories; Yashamaru, his father, siblings, and the sand villagers. All of those which were a possible source of love. Gaara gripped his head in pain, but did not scream.

While trying to ease his turmoil, he replied, "What is he to you…?"

Gai's answer was, "He's… An important subordinate I love."

Gaara stared at him for a moment, then turned and walked away. He muttered "I quit."

"Winner, Gaara." Hayate announced calmly.

----------------

Medical nins came to treat Lee, then all of them shuddered at the wound. They told Gai the result of his extreme behavior.

"Sir… I'm sorry to say this… But he should stop being a ninja."

The statement caused Gai to shudder. He was afraid to ask why, but he had to. "What is his… condition…?"

"His muscles were torn everywhere, and his bones were broken. It would be fine if that was all the damage… but… I'm afraid that his left arm and leg will be crippled for the rest of his life. I'm sorry." Medic nin did seemed to be really regretful when he said this, but this did not registered to Gai.

Gai tried to look calm on the outside, but the mask was cracking because of the tears he held inside. '_You went far to protect your nindo… It is alright. You have already proven yourself, Lee… I was such a fool to teach you this technique… I am a fool…'_

Naruto came running down again, and on the way, he passed Gaara. They shared a menacing glance for a split second, but Naruto quickly went running to Thick Eye Brows.

"Is he ok?" Naruto asked Gai, who was standing still in the middle of arena. Gai softly said "Lee… will be ok."

It was a statement that nobody believed.

----------------

Gaara teleported back up to balcony, and stood there, still clutching his head. He still could not understand the concept of love, as he was 'the demon who cares only for himself'. His name meant that. Gaara did not know of this 'love', but he desperately wanted it. The problem was, he did not know how to get it. The people near him always cowered and ran, or tried to kill him for being a monster.

'_Why am I the only one… No… There is another…'_

Gaara then remembered the blond haired genin. He saw the Kitsune's darkest and deepest memories and felt his feelings. The demon inside him was more frightening than his own. Gaara glanced down at the arena where Naruto stood next to the thick eyebrow's sensei, who was also glaring back at him with hate and determination. He seemed to be angry about something... It was then Gaara witnessed it.

Naruto's eyes flashed crimson red.

This confirmed Gaara's earlier suspicion. He was another like himself. He was somehow almost identical, yet different as day and night.

The fact that he had not given up on pleasing others, while trying to earn love… Maybe…

'_No… I do not need 'love'… I will destroy him and gain greater sense of existence.' _After all, he was Gaara, the demon who cares only for himself.

He did not need this… love.

----------------


	7. Preparation

**Update: Plot changed, each chapters revised.  
**

Flashbacks -!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!-.

_Thud!_

'_Ow__… Damn you morning headaches…'_

Naruto grumbled as he sluggishly got up from the floor with his penguin PJs on. It was already the morning of the main 3rd exam. The tragic news of Rock Lee's injury affected all of the 'rookie 9's, for Lee's injuries may never heal. Most grew extreme fear, while others, namely Naruto, craved vengeance with a passion towards the red haired sand genin

Naruto's encounter with him had been interesting, to say the least.

Shikamaru and Naruto had been visiting the Konoha's Proud Green Beast, while they were in hospital themselves. When the boys had come in, Gaara had been clutching his head in pain, while his sand had spilled all over the room with Lee in the bed oblivious to his surroundings.

It was quite apparent what the tanuki boy had been trying to do.

He had been confronted, and Gaara unnecessarily revealed his past to them, while confirming Naruto's suspicions about the images he saw at the arena. They have matched word to word completely.

Afterwards, Gaara and Naruto had shared a deep, meaningful look with each other, but Gaara broke off the unintentional glaring contest, and walked out of the room promising Naruto and Shikamaru's demise when Gai introduced himself into the scene.

Though Gaara could not see Naruto, Naruto had been glaring steadily into his back while he exited. The albino boy was _begging_ for a beating.

But first, there was an obstacle he must overcome first.

'_Hyuga Neji… Last year's number one rookie and a master of Gentle Fist Style…_

_And… the one who harmed Hinata.'_

Naruto's blood boiled at the thought. He had trained to his extremes with the Pervert-Senin to triumph over the Hyuga genius and the tanuki boy, while his mind was solely set on kicking the living daylight out of the Hyuga. Naruto just couldn't forgive him for injuring Hinata like that.

'_Even I don't understand why I'm so angry…'_

The one possible reason might be the Kitsune inside of him… When that bastard-of-a-sensei pushed him off the cliff, he had met the deity of destruction inside his own mind. It was for the first time, Naruto and the Kitsune had encountered each other face to face. Both individual scowled at one another, one in malice, one in even greater malice, and a little of amusement.

'_Well, well… if it isn't my hateful little vessel… come closer so I can crush you.'_ The nine-tailed being spat out the sentence in disgust, while his huge threatening claws swiftly charged at Naruto until it was stopped due the small size of gaps between the bars in Naruto's mental prison. It was fortunately too narrow for Kyuubi's giant claws to get by. Ignoring the fact that his claws could not reach the blond boy, Kyuubi struck the cage blow after blow, until he noticed that the boy was still there, and had not run for his pathetic human life.

To Naruto's credit, he had not even flinched, though the little display of raw strength had shook him inside to some extent.

Somewhat impressed, Kyuubi stopped his barrage of anger, and silenced, intending to hear what this little human had to say.

'_…Finally, you goddamned fur ball. I thought you would never shut up.'_ Kyuubi scowled once again. '_Shut your trap, little human. If it wasn't for this pathetic seal your cursed father placed upon me, you wouldn't even be a decent snack!'_

_'That's funny. If it's so pathetic, then why can't you break it, huh? Che, your all talk. Anyhow, I didn't come here to trade insults, as much as I hate to admit." _Naruto said with a grimace.

'_Thought as much, human. What, are you ready to beg for me to save your pathetic life? Hahahahaha…' _Kyuubi's laughter echoed through out the prison, while the blond genin stood still, giving no sign of agitation or anger.

_'Talk all you want, you homicidal hairball. This is MY mind. Here in MY MIND, it's MY RULES, or the bottom of the stinkin' cliff.' _Kyuubi stopped his laughter.

_'You humans are so amusing; bluffing and talking all big while all they do is talk.' _Sneering, Kyuubi barked.

'_Do you think I'm bluffing? You're dumber than I thought, demon. You should know; Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his words.'_ Naruto stated, also sneering right back at the beast. Another thundering laughter filled Naruto's mindscape.

'_Hahahahar__… Alright, human. You amuse me… I guess I'll let you live this time.'_ As soon as Kyuubi finished his sentence, crimson, blood red chakra seeped out of Kyuubi's prison, and soon wrapped itself around Naruto's figure.

All Naruto heard after the crimson chakra covered his mind, was a flash of immeasurable power, and this soft-spoken statement: '_By the way… You should know this too, human. We are already merging…'_

After that little encounter with his inner demon, he started feeling more-than-normal. Naruto could now smelled Ichikaru Ramen's delicious aroma all the way from his apartment, while he accidentally ripped apart his punching Kakashi sensei doll with utmost ease. His own strength now surprised him to no end, for Naruto now broke chopsticks and dishes into tiny little pieces even if he tried to be ever so careful. Obviously, his 5 main senses have drastically increased, while his physical strength had also dramatically increased to incredible levels. Seriously, now he couldn't even throw a kunai without busting his apartment walls through and destroying the next wall!

Another disturbing fact was that…

His pupils have been turned into two menacing slits.

Naruto looked at himself in the mirror; gazing back at his now deep, blue eyes. Not like once bright sky-blue with a tint of faked happiness, but now a deep blue hue that which belonged to the deepest parts of the ocean, containing immeasurable secrets. So deep, it almost coincided with black.

'_Damn… Is this what they call puberty?'_

Naruto thought feeling ridiculous, as he prepared himself for one of the greatest challenge of his life.

----------------

Hyuga Hinata strolled down the woods, walking along the training grounds that eventually lead to the arena. Kiba had came with her, but he had disappeared somewhere while grumbling about 'finishing businesses in bushes', whatever that meant.

'_Neji-ni-san… against… Naruto-kun…' _The more she thought of it, more depressed she came to be. This was a grim match between people who she cared more than life itself… both competing against each other, until a winner is chosen. Hinata cared deeply for her cousin – for she understood the ordeals he went through. Though Neji have not accepted her indirect apology during the prelims, Hinata just hoped that everything would turn out fine in the end.

After all, Neji-ni-san _is_ her cousin.

Her Naruto-kun… Hinata had noticed that he had become different, recently. During the one month break the participants of the Chuunin exam were given, she had encountered her secret love once. She engraved every single moment with him into her heart, and forbade herself from ever forgetting. Though, the changes she had noticed were not quite clear; very subtle, but it was _there.  
_

-!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!-

The encounter with the object of her affection occurred at the Ichikaru Ramen during lunch, where her teammates (well, actually it was all Kiba, but Shino followed nonetheless) dragged her down to eat there, since it was famous for the delicious taste of the soup. Hinata of course refused at first, but Kiba had insisted in such a way (the puppy dog eyes) that she just couldn't say no.

And there he was – sitting at a table, all alone. To her surprise, Naruto was barely even touching his bowl; while his face was in a serious, lonely manner Hinata knew all too well. It wasn't like Naruto-kun to be sulking like that, Hinata decided. She was quite certain that this was the chance to act, but she just couldn't seem to find that _tiny_ little courage needed for the push.

But oh, he was so sad. It was practically breaking her heart to see him like this. The indestructible spirit insider him – but that didn't mean the boy didn't have feelings. For whatever reason he was upset, it must have been pretty serious, she concluded. Now, she just needed that little spark to act –

"Ne, Hinata-chan, are y'k? You don' look so good." Kiba asked her with a concerned expression, while his pet Akamaru mirrored his expression.

"Y, yes, Kiba-kun. I am fine." Hinata replied in the calmest tone she could possibly muster, and then she casually added, "I, I'll be right back."

With that, Hinata started walking towards the table where the blond boy sat alone, ignoring Kiba's message saying he'll save a seat for her.

Hinata walked towards the table in firm motion, while repeating her prayers of courage inside over and over again, hoping she won't lose her composure and melt to the ground. Surely, it could not be that hard, just talking to her crush?

'_Who am I kidding? Oh, just walk up to him and say 'Hi Naruto. Care to tell me why you saved me from evil Neji-ni-san's finishing blow?' Great, Hinata.''_

Before she could even prepare herself, she was already there at his table; her timid figure towering over his unusual depressed demeanor with firmness of a rubber. The instant she stood at his table, the boy had noticed her apparently.

"Oh, hi Hinata. What brings you here? I've been a customer of this little stand for over 8 years and I don't ever remember you coming here before." Naruto greeted with a smile, his far-away look and pain all gone like smoke, so unrealistically gone that it made Hinata wonder if she was hallucinating in the first place.

"H, Hi Naruto-kun. This is m, my first time, v, visiting here. My teammates said that this place was, g, good so I came to try it." Hinata replied trying to suppress her constant stuttering due to her extreme nervousness rising over critical levels, while her heart pumped her blood million miles per second.

"M… may… I…?" Hinata asked timidly, gesturing towards the chair next to him.

"Hm? Oh, sure! C'mon! The more the merrier!" Naruto exclaimed with excitement, as Hinata sat down next to him. Naruto then continued on to babble about how she came to the right place, how delicious the ramen smells and how to enjoy the ramen to the fullest, and just about anything else about ramen known to humanity. Hinata sat there, listening tentatively to every word he said. While she did so, she memorized every single detail of his face, down to the every last hair and kept it in her heart while promising to cherish it forever. How his rich, sunny hair waved back and forth when he laughed, how his flexible arms moved, how his blinding cerulean eyes sparkling every moment-

Huh?

_'Since when did he have such deep, blue eyes? That's strange…' _Hinata thought as she stared into his enticing eyes – which were very deep blue hue – and observed his pupils which have become sort of slit like.

Though, thanks to her obvious scrutiny, it took her a quite a while to realize that Naruto had stopped talking and was also looking straight into her eyes.

Hinata immediately flushed into an indescribable crimson color, and she thought that she wouldn't be surprised if her heart would pop out now. Hinata looked away, trying desperately to cover her blushes.

"You know, I never really realized how shiny your eyes are. Actually, come to think of it, I never really noticed you, either." Hinata immediately almost face faulted, and she shook her head disappointedly. '_Naruto-kun… am I really that invisible?'_

"But you know," Naruto continued, not really aware of Hinata's mental ponderings as he continued. "Your eyes really do look cool. Kinda like a pair of… those… what do you call them? Those round, expensive thingies…."

There was never a moment in her life until now when she had thanked the Kami-sama for giving her these eyes she hated so much.

"Pearls, Naruto-kun." Hinata answered for Naruto, as Naruto smiled innocently. Hinata could have sworn her heart skipped a few beats. "Yeah… Pearls."

Suddenly, Naruto almost bolted from his seat after he glanced at the clock. "Oh, man! Gotta go! It's time to train already, and if I'm late… that perverted bastard would do something horrible like feeding me to the frogs or something!" Naruto shuddered, imagining all these not-really-pretty scenes. He hurriedly finished his 5th bowl of ramen and stood up to leave.

"U, um… It was nice eating with you… Naruto-kun…" Hinata softly spoke, still feeling dizzy from mental Cloud 9. Naruto, who didn't even have a slightest idea what was going through her head, waved at her as he paid for his ramen. "Bye, Hinata-chan!" As soon as Naruto spoke his goodbye, Hinata then finally remembered her exactly _why _she had approached him in the first place. Though, by the time Hinata called out to him, he had already disappeared.

'_Aw… That was the perfect chance…'_

Sighing to herself, Hinata slowly stood up from her quarter-unfinished ramen. "Excuse me, sir. How much do I owe you?" She asked the kind looking old man who had served her.

"Oh, you don't have to pay. That idiot Naruto had already paid for you." He then checked the tab, and confirmed. "Yup, exact prices for 5 beef ramen and one vegetarian ramen." He sent her a suggestive wink. "He's such a nice boy-friend, isn't he?" Hinata almost went into state of shock.

"N, n, no… We're not like that! We're just… acquaintances… um… but did he really pay for me?" The old man nodded once again, before he was called by another customer. "I'll be right there!" And he was gone.

'_I, it… can't be… If he DID pay… then… this was kind of like… a date!?'_ Hinata flushed at the thought, before she hurriedly left the restaurant in oblivious bliss.

----------------

Meanwhile, in the near by bushes…

"See, Shino! I told you Hinata was going to eat with Naruto!" Kiba angrily stated as he glared at the table where his pale eyed teammate and the blond freak was eating ramen together. "Sure, 'I'll be right back' my ass." Akamaru lay on top of his head, observing the situation along with Kiba.

Shino remained silent.

"I mean, how could she just ditch us like that?" Kiba grumbled angrily, as Akamaru scratched his ears. '_And for that blonde freak, too.'_The mere thought of it felt insulting to the dog tamer. '_I knew she liked him since back in the academy days, but still!'_

Shino abruptly stood up, his bugs sensing his teammate's uneasiness and decided to calmly walk off. He obviously did not want to get involved in this 'fiasco'.

"Oy Shino! Where're you goin?" Kiba called out to him, but Shino did not even glance back. "We should not be spying on her. It is her decision." That said, Shino silently kept walking.

"Che, uptight leader-wannabe." Grumbling, Kiba set his beloved Akamaru inside his hood, and also decided to leave the scene.

-!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!-

Hinata frowned when she noticed the sun's position was almost at noon already. The main matches were being held at 1:30, but she had spent almost 2 hours reminiscing about he crush. Hinata blushed once again.

'_I'm being weird…'_

She stood near the training grounds of team 7, slightly looking around the forest while marveling at the beauty of this afternoon. Sun's sunny rays were shining down upon the trees and the training ground, creating a beautiful serene scene. Only a few cloud invading the skies, it was a truly a breathtaking afternoon. '_Wow…'_

"Hinata? What are you doing here?"

Sudden familiar voice made Hinata nearly jump up in the air screaming, but she had restrained herself fortunately. Hinata turned around slowly, fearing while also hopping that it would be the one who she seeks.

"N, Naruto-kun… You scared me…" Hinata clutched her hands together above her chest, while she bashfully blushed as always as she gazed upon his handsome face.

"Oh, sorry Hinata…" Naruto scratched the back of his head, portraying an air of clumsiness… though something seemed… off.

'_He's quiet today… I wonder why…' _Hinata slowly walked towards her crush, who stood still while looking down at the ground. Finally, Hinata spoke up. "Is… something wrong?"

Naruto suddenly looked up with a shocked expression betrayed upon his face, his slit-like eyes widening… then he looked down again.

"U, um… no… nothing's wrong…" Hinata wasn't convinced, but she decided to respect his words. Instead, she decided to encourage the fox boy.

"Well… ok… u, um… I, I wish you… good luck, Naruto-kun." Mentally scolding herself for stuttering again in front him once more, Hinata twirled her fingers unconsciously. The habit seemed to have a nasty way of dying hard.

"Yeah! I'll definitely win! I'll kick his butt, Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed like he always had, in his cheerful and energetic voice, though this time… there was a definite undertone of hollowness. Hinata have heard, and now she was even more concerned.

Then Naruto sighed then shook his head. "Who am I trying to kid… heh, I'm not even sure if I'm confident enough… Hinata… do you think I'm strong? Of course you don't… I'm just a failure."

Hinata was startled, her heart felt like being squeezed lifeless as she heard him talk about himself like that for the first time since the academy days. '_N, Naruto-kun…'_

She forced a smile. "O, of course not, Naruto-kun. I think you are strong." Naruto shook his head at that.

"Nope, you're wrong…" Naruto then took a deep breath, and continued. "You see, Hinata… I'm just a worthless fool. Everything I do, I mess up. Horribly. Everything I try, I never succeed. Every time I try, I always fail... Do you see now? I'm nothing but all talk. I always talk big and do meaningless pranks to get everyone's attention, but I…" Naruto did not say anymore as he looked down at his feet in silence.

Suddenly, Hinata felt her eyes widen in a realization. '_I, I understand now… Naruto-kun… I, I have never even been brave enough to be there for him even when he was bullied… but…'_

Hinata willed herself to steel her resolve.

'_I will not back down any longer.'_

----------------

Naruto looked at his feet, afraid to look up and see disgust or hate in Hinata's eyes, just like everyone else in the whole village. This was the first time he had _ever_ shared his inner pains with _anyone._ Just now… he had just admitted that he was a failure… One thing he had most feared to admit… Was this a nightmare? Naruto didn't even know why he told her in the first place. It was like he was a different person in front of her. '_I wonder why… wait, does it even matter?'_

A few tense moments have passed, while two ninjas stood frozen as if they were statues.

"You are not a failure, Naruto-kun." Startled by her sudden soft, understanding tone, Naruto whipped his head up only to be embraced by her soft arms. She held him gently, despite the fact that she was a few inch shorter than him.

"Hi, Hinata…"

"Don't ever think low of yourself, Naruto-kun… Your indomitable spirit… It is something to be greatly admired… For a long time, I have watched you from afar, watching you train harder than anyone else, to obtain your dream, Naruto-kun. Don't ever say that you're a failure…" Hinata's voice had somehow soothed the boy's raging emotions, calming them almost magically.

"There are people who are counting on you…" Hinata then added mentally, '_Someone… like me.'_

Hinata then battled between her emotional dilemmas, either to let go of this precious hug now, or just hold him and hope he wouldn't mind too much … and her rational side won, so she slowly pulled back. She then smiled, her hands behind her back, and blushed brightly.

"Ah, N, Naruto-kun…"

Then awkward silence ruled the atmosphere.

'_I shouldn't have hugged him… now he'll probably think I'm indecent or something!' _Hinata thought frantically, trying to come up with excuses to the question that was sure to surface soon to greet her doom. Naruto opened his mouth to finally speak, and Hinata closed her eyes tightly, expecting the worst.

"I…"

He paused again, so the silence swiftly returned to fill the gap between them. Hinata now squinted an eye open to survey the situation, and was fortunately greeted with a re-energized Naruto. He scratched his head bashfully, a slight blush overriding his whisker marks faintly.

" Heh… umm…" Naruto seemed to have some trouble connecting his words, as he stumbled on whatever he was trying to express. Thankfully, loud booms of firework of the arena caught their attention, serving as a god-sent interruption.

Both simultaneously thought '_Thank god…'_

"Errm, Hinata… I guess I should be going now… heheh." Naruto laughed nervously, then put on his cheerful smile and started to run towards the general direction of the arena. "Bye Hinata"

Hinata could only watch as he ran further away from her to a fight she dreaded, but she replied anyway. "Good bye Naruto-kun…" Hinata said timidly, still flushed from head to toe. She slightly waved back to him when she noticed that he had stopped.

"Oh yeah…" Naruto started, his back facing her. "I never really thought about this until now, but…" Hinata gasped and sucked in a breath, and held it in anticipation.

"People like you…" Hinata clenched her hands which were starting to slightly sweat.

"I like."

Even after he was long gone, Hinata's pearly gaze stayed on the same spot where her secret love shook her heart up like an earthquake.

----------------

Hello fellow readers! Sorry about a very _very_ late update. You see, sometimes life doesn't go the way you want to, and it has a tendency to keep people very busy. School transferring and all, is a very big deal for me, so I just kinda took my time. Once again, I apologize for a late update! By the way, this was sort of a filler chap, thought next one will be Neji vs Naruto!

Responses: Gosh, so many reviews! Thank you ALL for such heartwarming encouragements. I'll try to update a little faster, but my school work wont really let me. T . T

Anyhow, thank you for everything.


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